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Gov. Nikki Haley vs. The State

By Dylan Byers

07/26/12 12:15 PM EDT

South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley has been having it out with local newspaper The State in recent days following a story about her 14-year-old daughter's employment at the Statehouse gift shop -- which, State reporter Gina Smith wrote, raises "questions about nepotism that the governor’s office declines to answer."

The State finally decided to run the highly anticipated story today, though the Governor's office got a jump on the story after it was prematurely published online by some local McClatchy newspapers, which subsequently pulled the article. (Romenesko has the full details on that fiasco.)

"[I]t's a sad day for journalism in South Carolina when The State newspaper goes after my 14 year old daughter," Gov. Haley wrote on Facebook on July 19. "Public officials have a right to expect that their minor children are off limits from political opponents and even from biased media outlets like The State. It's disgusting. Shame on them."

Rob Godfrey, Gov. Haley's spokesman, issued a similar statement to the paper after it started inquiring about the daughter's employment on July 16, and would not answer questions. However, as detailed in the article, the Governor's office did a "turnaround" yesterday, "giving some of the requested information to another newspaper, The (Charleston) Post and Courier."

In a media briefing late last week (video above), Gov. Haley stated clearly that her daughter was "off limits." The ethics experts that The State contacted for their story (strangely) declined to comment on whether the Governor's daughter's employment qualified as "nepotism."